Sulkyblue's Blog

I aimed to do a bit more reading this year and managed to make it to 50 books, this probably doesn't seem much to some people, but I read quite slowly and only tend to read during my work lunch break. Of those 50 though all of them are new not re-reads. Reviews can be found here

Very few of the books on the list are 'new' for 2005 (5 in fact) although there's a couple more that were new in paperback.


P.W. Atkins - The Periodic Kingdom
Iain Banks - The Wasp Factory
Bill Bryson - Mother Tongue
Bill Bryson - Notes from a Small Island
Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game
C.J. Cherryh - Wave Without a Shore
Arthur C. Clarke - Prelude to Space
Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter - A Time Odyssey 1: Time's Eye
Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl
Max Allan Collins - CSI: Binding Ties
Andrew Crumey - Mobius Dick
Keith R.A. DeCandido - Serenity Novelisation
Peter Dickinson - Tears of the Salamander
Gordon R. Dickson - The Dragon and the George
J.M. Dillard - Star Trek Enterprise - Surak's Soul
Alan Dean Foster - Nor Crystal Tears
Jasper Fforde - The Big Over Easy
Jostein Gaarder - Sophie's World
Francis Gilbert - I'm a Teacher, Get Me Out of Here
Simon R. Green - No Haven for the Guilty
John Courtenay Grimwood - The First Arabesk 1 - Pashazade John Courtenay Grimwood -
John Courtenay Grimwood - The First Arabesk 2 - Effendi John Courtenay Grimwood -
John Courtenay Grimwood - The First Arabesk 3 - Falaheen Joanne Harris - Chocolat
Robert Harris - Pompeii
Reginald Hill - A Clubbable Woman
Eric Idle - The Road to Mars
Ursula K Le Guin - Left Hand of Darkness
Jack McDevitt - Chindi
Juliet E. McKenna - Aldebreshin Compass 3: Western Shore
Juliet E. McKenna - Turns and Chances
Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels - Star Trek - The Sundered
David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle - The Mote in God's Eye
Terry Pratchett - Discworld 29 - Thud!
Justina Robson - Natural History
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter 6: The Half Blood Prince
Mary Doria Russell - Children of God
Mary Doria Russell - The Sparrow
Clifford D Simak - City
Dan Simmons - Olympos
Aaron Sorkin - The West Wing Script Book: Season 3 & 4 -
Francis Spufford - The Child that Books Built
Brian Stableford - Genesys 1 - Serpent's Blood
Brian Stableford - Genesys 2 - Salamander's Fire
Jules Verne - The Mysterious Island
James White - Sector General
Connie Willis - To Say Nothing of the Dog
Simon Winchester - The Map that Changed the World


Best Book I read this year - Without hesitation this one is The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel, it's an amazing character focussed work that was simultaneously horribly painful to read and completely compelling.
Honorable Mentions - Orson Scott Card: Ender's Game, Banks: The Wasp Factory, Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Clifford D Simak: City
Most enjoyable books of the year - Jack McDevitt: Chindi, Niven and Pournell: The Mote in God's Eye, Joanne Harris: Chocolate, Dan Simmons: Olympos, Connie Willis: To Say Nothing of the Dog
Disappointment of the year - Harry Potter 6 was an enjoyable read but the lack of plot and abundance of cliche was a disappointment, the lack of a new Dalziel and Pascoe was annoying.
Can someone explain the fuss about - Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - it was ok but I just felt it was an interesting concept not really done justice by mediocre story telling
Struggle to finish - Strange and Norrell: a great book but boy was it slow going, not to mention it's size didn't really make it handbag friendly.
Worst book - Mobius Dick by Andrew Crumey - pretensious and irritating

Best non-fiction - I've read 7 non-fiction books this year and most of them have been pretty poor. The standout was Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder which probably only really 1/2 counts as non-fiction. It's a beautifully structured book that introduces the history of philsophy through examples both obvious and hidden. It's hard going at times, but definately worth reading.
Worst non-fiction - A toss up between Simon Winchester's Map that Changed the World (cheesy and hackish) and Francis Spufford's The Child that Books Built (clumsy autobiography littered with pop-psychology and waffle)

2006 - I've got a shelf of books still waiting to be read first up are probably Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and Clarke and Baxter's Time's Oddysey Book 2. There's quite a few things I keep spying on tables in Waterstones and I'd like to read a bit more non-fiction to prevent brain rot. I'd also like to read some more of the classics that I've never got round to... particularly the nice short ones ;0)